…Suspects chemical poisoning of aquatic lives
If recently you have been feasting on Croaker fish delicacies sourced from any of the coastal communities of the Niger Delta, there is a great likelihood that you may have been feeding on dead fishes.
For more than a fortnight now, fishes particularly, croaker fishes have been dying in alarming proportion and being washed ashore under very mysterious circumstances.
Many individuals had called for action on social media platforms to no avail but this time, a coalition of activists across the Niger Delta region under the umbrella of Niger Delta Activists Forum (NDAF) are demanding for decisive actions which include urgent investigations into the remote and immediate cause of death of the dead fishes being washed ashore across many coastal communities of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
A statement by the group however suspects large scale chemical poisoning of aquatic lives.
The statement which was signed by Comrade Success Jack (National President, Niger Delta Activists Forum); Comrade Ambrose Obioha (National Spokesman, Niger Delta Activists Forum) and Comrade Tamunoimama Tamunobelema (Chairman Rivers State chapter) read in part: “Our prime suspect in this matter is the action of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylene, Xylene and other chemicals from improperly treated production water or gas seepage.
“While we await final reports of investigation, into the root cause of this global scale disaster, it is undeniable that the Oil and Gas operations within the Niger Delta region is dealing the death blow to our ecology, economy and our way of life.Our ecosystem that teems with a robust biodiversity now faces extinction, flora and fauna, including human lives are no longer safe here.
“Our land, water and air have been poisoned and that’s why, you see these symptoms of death littering our scapes. This is a case with the gravest potentials of further lowering life expectancy, affecting and altering our genetic components.
“This is a sentence of death on innocent coastal dwellers. Genocide is served us, on the Atlantic shoreline.”
After observing some strange features noticed in the dead fishes, the group demanded as follows:
1. That a state of emergency on health and environment, be declared along communities on the Atlantic shoreline, spanning from eastern Obolo in Akwa-Ibom State, through Oyorokoto fishing settlement down to the fringes of Finima town and its fishing ports .
2. That critical stakeholders, leaders and notable groups should immediately be summoned to a council with the aim of embarking on massive sensitization on the dangers of eating and selling these chemical soaked fishes.
3. The Federal Ministries of; Environment, Petroleum and Health should urgently dispatch a team of health professionals to carry out necessary health services to mitigate challenges on those that have consumed the fish already. This is the surest way to avert an epidemic outbreak or mass death.
ii. A team of environmental experts should be immediately dispatched, to commence investigation into the remote and immediate causes, of the phenomenon with the inclusion of critical stakeholders to give validity to the final reports and engender trust.
4. All Oil and Gas operations by NLNG, SPDC, NAOC, EROTON, AITEO etc should immediately be reduced or halted around these areas to save the lives of our people, pending the result of the investigations.
6. At this juncture, it has become crucial and overdue for a fresh Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) to be conducted across the entire Niger Delta region, to ascertain the safety of our people owing to the hazards posed by Oil and Gas operations within our homeland. And to guide further decisions and provide more light for good decisions of Government.
7. All Federal agencies who over the years have been receiving monies by law, for ecological matters should rise to the occasion immediately;
Niger Delta Developments Commission (NDDC) and the Ecological Trust Fund among others.
7. We are also using this medium to call on persons living within the Niger Delta not to eat or sell these fishes.
“As we try to survive this chemical siege, it is time for patriotic actions by Government, corporate bodies and well spirited individuals to save our people and ecosystem”, the group solicited.
